Abstract

Riparian buffer zones are the only measure which has been used extensively in Sweden to reduce phosphorus losses from agricultural land. This paper describes how the FyrisSKZ web tool can be used to evaluate allocation scenarios using data from the Svarta River, an agricultural catchment located in central Sweden. Three scenarios are evaluated: a baseline, a uniform 6-m-wide buffer zone in each sub-catchment, and an allocation of areas of buffer zones to sub-catchments based on the average cost of reduction. The total P reduction increases by 30 % in the second scenario compared to the baseline scenario, and the average reduction per hectare increases by 90 % while total costs of the program fall by 32 %. In the third scenario, the average cost per unit of reduction ((sic)163 kg P-1) is the lowest of the three scenarios (58 % lower than the baseline) and has the lowest total program costs.

Keywords

Buffer strips; Transaction costs; Baltic Sea; Payment for Environmental Services (PES); FyrisCOST

Published in

AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment
2015, volume: 44, number: Suppl 2, pages: S311-S318
Publisher: SPRINGER

Authors' information